Welcome to the Cool Science blog. We are not talking temperature, we are talking neat, rad, cool, awesome, etc. science. So for everyone out there with a love of science, let's start some discussion!
If you are a scientist or an enthusiast, what is your favorite branch of science and why and is there a particular scientist that shaped your views on that aspect of science?
I grew up with a love of science, especially of geology, fueled by many hours spent sorting through rocks in the driveway and seeing fossils and strata in the smallest of rocks. As I went on through high school i continued to be fascinated by geology and weather as well but chose the path to study geology because there was no meteorology program in my state. I wish I could have done both but I was such a big baby that I was afraid to go far from home to school. I do not regret my choices, as since then I have continued on to pursue studies in oceanography and computer science and have had an awesome career as a geophysicist, oceanographer, and computer scientist. I spent six weeks studying geology in Switzerland for my field studies program and it was truly amazing. I actually saw an exposed section of the cretaceous-tertiary boundary and dug (hammered) into the limestone where the first achaeopteryx was found. If you love geology and paleontology you know or have an opinion about archaeopteryx. This fossil is long considered to be proof that dinosaurs and birds are related, even evolved from each other. All I will say is that it was so cool to be there where it was discovered.
To learn more about archaeopteryx:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archaeopteryx
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/archaeopteryx/info.html
While I was studying geology, I worked every other semester as part of the cooperative education program and ultimately have worked in the same place (different and varying jobs) for my whole career. During my work semesters I rode on deep ocean survey ships mapping the bottom of the ocean and later worked analyzing sea surface temperature from imagery. I have since moved on to a Information Technology position and also own my own computer services business.
There are so many cool things about science in general and I was lucky at a young age to be encouraged to pursue my dreams of science. I am living proof that you can do or be anything you want!
I am still a geologist at heart, and plan vacations around places where I can stop and dig for fossils!!! You have probably seen me on the side of the road with my rock hammer!
So tell me what you love or hate for that matter, about science!
:-)
3 comments:
So, Science Gal - the Large Hadron Collider will "come to life" in a few days. There is a very, very, very small risk that a black hole could be created by the collider:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/15/science/15risk.html
If a black hole was created at some point during the collider's operations, then time (for us) would essentially stand still, since we would be constantly "falling" into the center of the black hole. Since it would take an infinite amount of time to fall into the black hole, then time would stand still for us.
So the question we must ask ourselves, if we knew exactly when a black hole could be formed, what would you want to be doing at the time of the black hole's creation? Would you like to be sitting in a teleconference with some guy babbling on and on about metadata impacts? Would you like to be vomiting? Would you like to be on a Korean Airline flight, sitting next to some guy who just ate a ton of kimchi? Would you like to be in the throws of passion about ready to achieve climax? Would you like to be holding a little child?
C'mon science gal? Inquiring guys want to know!
BB
Well - Uh, I know what I would like to be doing at that very moment, but I am hoping that nothing will happen because my luck I will be in a teleconference, doomed for eternity, just like I am now LOL.
I am not sure I should post my real thoughts because I did not mark this blog as "adult".
:-b
But seriously, what are the real risks that the Hadron Collider will cause a black hole, and if so, why would it be large enough to swallow up the whole earth?
Some folks say the black hole would be so small that it would be insignificant. Others say that there are black holes all around us, possibly even passing through our bodies at this very instant. Hmmm. What do you think about that!?
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